Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2007 : April 15, 2007

Theme: Revelation Proclaims Our Risen Savior

Church year occasion: Easter 2

I'd like to tell you a true story of a soccer player. We'll call him Fred. He wasn't particularly good. He couldn't score a goal if his life depended on it. So you can understand his excitement when in a tie game the ball was kicked to an area between Fred and the goalie, with no one else around. Whoever reached that ball first would either score the winning goal or prevent it from being scored. So they raced for the ball, got to it at the same time, collided and fell in a heap of arms and legs -- and the ball skittered away from both of them and came to rest a foot from the goal line in front of a wide open goal. Fred jumped up and tried to get to the ball. But the goalie wasn't going to let that happen, so he held on to the Fred's legs. In desperation, Fred tried to get away, but to no avail -- he was being held. So he started flailing his legs to break free, but from the referee's perspective it looked like he was trying to kick the goalie. The referee blew the whistle and kicked Fred out of the game, who was absolutely furious at the injustice of the call. In a matter of moments, he had traveled from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat.

That's what it was like for the early Christians. After Jesus' resurrection they knew the thrill of victory, but the Christian life seemed more like the agony of defeat because they were being persecuted, and some of them tortured and even killed. That's why the Holy Spirit had the Apostle John write the book of Revelation. It was a great encouragement to the early Christians to keep their faith strong as they looked to Jesus, instead of falling into despair as they looked to themselves and their own strength to get them through this life. You and I need that encouragement, too. We just celebrated Jesus' resurrection last Sunday. But many discouraging things may have happened this past week. It might seem like this world or Satan himself is holding you in his grasp and won't let go. So listen as the book of Revelation Proclaims Our Risen Savior.

The book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John. By the time he wrote this letter, he was the only apostle left alive -- all the others had been killed for their faith in Jesus, according to church tradition. He had been banished by the Roman emperor to the island of Patmos as our text says, "because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." He wrote the letter to seven actual churches in modern-day Turkey.

The first encouragement comes to God's people because of who the message is coming from. John says, "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come." This is God the Father, who is eternal and changeless. The message is also from the seven spirits before his throne. This is the Holy Spirit, who is referred to in Isaiah as bestowing seven gifts. Finally, the message also comes from Jesus Christ, who is described in three ways: "the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth." As our Prophet, Jesus was the faithful witness to God's forgiving grace. Later, Jesus is described as freeing us by his blood. This refers to him as our High Priest who gave the perfect sacrifice of himself to take our sins away. In this way, we also can be called priests of God (verse 6) because we can come before the very throne of the Triune God through faith in Jesus and know that he not only hears our prayers but acts for our good. Jesus is also described as our King -- the ruler of the kings of the earth.

But there is one special title that we don't want to overlook during this Easter season -- Jesus is called the firstborn from the dead. Jesus wasn't the first person to rise from the dead -- there were a number of instances in the Old and New Testaments of God miraculously raising others from the dead. But Jesus is the only one who rose from the dead never to die again, as all the others did. That's why he can say in verse 18: "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" On the cross, Jesus had been weak. There is not a hint of weakness anymore as we look at Jesus and hear his words. He is done suffering. Now he is absolutely victorious, and wants us to know that through him we also are victorious.

But we sometimes don't act that way, do we? When we look at ourselves and our sinful lives, we get disheartened. We look at how worthless we are because of our sins. We know God hates sins and how he has promised to punish sins. And that is exactly where the devil wants you to stop. He wants you to look at yourself to get you through this life. If he can get you to look at yourself and focus on your sins, then he has you right where he wants you -- in despair over your sins and not looking to anyone, including God, for help.

We need to see our worthlessness because of our sins. We can't do anything to save ourselves. Every sin we commit is a sin that can damn us -- including not looking to Jesus for who he is -- the risen and victorious Savior, forgetting about his victory in our place and instead looking to our own strength as we live in a very unchristian world. You might see so much wrong in your life that you don't think that even God has the answer for you. The devil has led you to despair of your salvation, just like Judas did. Then the devil has you in his grasp. And he won't let go.

But see how Jesus is pictured in our text. We might feel in despair because of our situation in life. We can get down because when we do follow Jesus and his Word, things still don't go right for us -- at least from our perspective. Frankly, we can get down in almost every circumstance -- whether things are going great or not so great or horribly wrong. Whether we feel like we've just suffered the agony of defeat or we feel on top of the world in the thrill of our victory in Christ, the devil will always be there to have you look at something that will drive a wedge between you and your Savior. Then it's good to see that Jesus is the One "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Jesus did everything for our salvation and opened heaven's door to us. In fact, we do nothing to get to heaven because Jesus already did it all. We know that because Jesus rose from the dead. That takes away our despair over our own sins because when we place them on Jesus, we know they are gone forever.

But it also takes away our complacency as Christians. If we saw the risen Christ standing before us right now in this church as he is described here, would we be complacent? Not a chance! If he were here visibly, we would be running around eager to do anything to serve him. We'd be like a colony of ants, always working hard. But we don't do it because we know Jesus is the Almighty. We want to serve because of a very different reason -- because of who Jesus is personally to us.

John saw an incredible sight: "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."

What other response could John have than the response he also had on the mount of transfiguration: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead." John knew that he shouldn't be able to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, whose white head and hair were white to show his purity and sinlessness, whose eyes were blazing to show that he could see every single sin we've ever committed, whose feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace to show that he has the power to destroy any sinner if he so chose for their sins. But Jesus touched him and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Jesus wasn't angry with John because he saw John as John the saint, just as he sees you as saints, holy ones, because he declared you righteous through his blood. That's why he died for you. That's why he rose for you. That's why he again and again tells us, "Don't be afraid." He is changeless so we can depend on his promises in Scripture that we are saints. He is alive forever and ever to show that he destroyed death, and he holds the keys to death and Hades to show that he has total control over them and has conquered them for you. Revelation proclaims our risen Savior. So don't be afraid. Don't sit on the sidelines, either. You have a risen Savior! Live your life accordingly -- always looking to him.

After Fred was kicked out of the game, he sat on the sideline. At first he was angry, but then when his teammate scored the winning goal in overtime, he was ecstatic. We sat on the sidelines also and watched our only hope for winning not just a game but our eternal salvation rest on Jesus. Jesus won it for us. In life, winning the game of life isn't everything -- it's the only thing for the Christian. Winning the game of life means we have eternal life now and forever. With a risen Christ, there is no anger or bitterness or fear. Those things don't control us any longer. The devil and our sinful flesh don't control us any longer either. Christ does. So live your Christian life in the power of your risen Savior. Then you also will be proclaiming a risen Savior. Amen.